Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help improve safeguarding within faith communities.

The Government is committed to doing all that we can to ensure children and vulnerable groups are effectively safeguarded. As such, Home Office collaborates closely with other government departments - including Department for Education (DfE), Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) and Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) - to provide leadership and promote effective practice around safeguarding, including across faith communities.

The statutory safeguarding regime applies broadly, underpinned by Working Together to Safeguard Children (2018), the statutory guidance on inter-agency working to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. Referrals should be made by any organisation where there are concerns about a child or young person being at risk of abuse or harm.

DfE has also published a safeguarding code of practice for out-of-school settings, including religious supplementary schools, which brings together existing legal requirements and best practice into a single location.

In addition, DLUHC currently fund the organisation Strengthening Faith Institutions who help to create stronger, healthier, integrated and accessible places of worship across England, by delivering safeguarding training in faith institutions. SFI aim to build the capacity of grassroots organisations by delivering crucial expertise alongside local initiatives. They provide health checks for places of worship, alongside training courses to empower women, faith leaders, community leaders and young leaders from minority ethnic backgrounds.

Finally, the Government welcomes the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse’s report into child protection into religious organisations and settings, published in September 2021, and is carefully considering its findings and recommendations.